Predecessor Hsin Ping Successor Hsin Pei School Fo Guang Shan | Teacher Hsing Yun Name Hsin Ting | |
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Dharma names Zhi Du (智度; Novice name)
Hui Hsi (慧熙; Outer name) Born February 2, 1944 (age 80)
Yunlin County, Taiwan ( 1944-02-02 ) | ||
20120226
Hsin Ting (Chinese: 心定和尚; pinyin: Xīndìng Héshàng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sim-tēng hô siōng; born February 2, 1944) is a Buddhist monk from Taiwan who served as the sixth-term abbot and director of Fo Guang Shan from 1997 to 2005. He served as acting abbot for three years after the sudden death of his predecessor, Hsin Ping, in 1995. From 2004 to 2010, Hsin Ting served as the president of Buddha's Light International Association. In his post-abbotship years, Hsin Ting was appointed the abbot of Tai Hua Temple in Bangkok, Thailand, assisting in overseeing the construction project for Fo Guang Shan's satellite branch temple in South East Asia.
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Biography
Hsin Ting was born in Yunlin County. He was born into a family of farmers and grew up in the country. In 1968, he became a monastic under Master Hsing Yun and took full ordination the following year in Keelung. Hsin Ting graduated from the Eastern Buddhist College and the India Research Institute of the Chinese Cultural University. He further received an honorary doctorate degree from the Fo Guang Shan-affiliated University of the West in Rosemead, California in 1998.
Prior to his abbotship, Hsin Ting held a variety of high posts, such as the secretary of Fo Guang Shan's Religious Affairs Committee, Managing Director of the Ilan Buddhist Society, President of the American Buddhist Youth Association, Vice President and later President of the BLIA chapter in Taiwan. He also served as abbot at Long Hua Temple in Malaysia, Hsi Lai Temple in California, Pu Men Temple in Taipei, and Pu Hsien Temple in Kaohsiung. Outside of Fo Guang Shan, Hsin Ting serves as a board member at the Humpty Dumpty Institute in New York City and as vice chair of the board of trustees at University of the West.
Upon the sudden death of Hsing Yun's eldest disciple and abbot, Venerable Hsin Ping, Hsin Ting was immediately promoted to the said position, and served the rest of Hsin Ping's term until 1997, when he was unanimously elected abbot that same year. His term as abbot ended in 2005 when Venerable Hsin Pei was elected to succeed him. Along with Master Hsing Yun, he regularly gives dharma lectures and presides over Buddhist ceremonies on behalf of Hsing Yun. To accommodate his visits to the United States, Hsin Ting became a United States citizen in 2010.
In 2011, Hsin Ting launched a personal Facebook page as well as a YouTube channel for the purposes of reaching out to younger Buddhists.